TAMPA - A Florida woman sued the United States on March 2 in Tampa federal court on behalf of her deceased mother for allegedly causing her death through medical malpractice.
Plaintiff Amanda Werner's mother, Jill, was admitted for surgery through the Veterans Administration Bay Pines Health System in November 2017.
According to the suit, her mother's thoracic surgery performed by Dr. Edward Hong experienced complications including excessive bleeding, and three additional surgeons were called in to assist.
In the days following surgery, Jill Werner allegedly experienced chest pain and had ongoing concerning lab results for various blood levels. Two days after her operation, Jill was diagnosed with multi-system organ failure.
Jill died in the early morning hours of Nov. 4, three days after surgery, due to sepsis, hypercoagulation and cardiac arrest,
The plaintiff accuses the physicians involved in her mother's operation of breaching the standard of care, failure to use appropriate surgical technique for a safe, planned operation and failure to prevent damage from the tissue and blood vessels that surrounded the surgical site. She is seeking restitution of at least $75,000 from the U.S.
Werner is represented by Colling, Gilbert, Wright and Carter of Orlando.